


Dreams Made Flesh

by Tish



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, First Time, Hearts, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 06:11:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13734816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tish/pseuds/Tish
Summary: Sometimes life sweeps you out from under your feet, sometimes it dumps you, sometimes it brings you a shark for a wife.





	Dreams Made Flesh

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Icie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icie/gifts).



Pirrin stepped lightly over the rocks jutting up from the sand to the small inlet surrounded by a wall of rocks. An arch had been worn into the wall by the relentless tides over the years. The red rock stood out against the storm-grey sky and the dull washed-out blue of the incoming sea.

Pirrin's bare feet gripped the rocks as she moved along the tidal pools, aware of the slowly increasing sounds of the approaching high tide. As the sound changed to a hollow, soft roar, she knew the water was starting to enter the archway and knew she should turn back soon.

She adjusted her long skirt and the canvas bag she wore over her shoulders and started to make her way back to the line of seaweed that marked the high tide point. The cry of a gull caught her attention and she paused to look up at the bird, struggling to fly forward in the strong wind above her. Shielded by the rock face, she couldn't feel the gusts, but she shivered a little, knowing that her trek up the cliffs would be more tiring than usual.

Pirrin straightened her shoulders and took a last look at the tide pools, noticing one large mussel nearby. She squinted up at the gloomy sky, then decided to leave it. She had only taken two steps away when her world became a roaring, fizzing cauldron of grey-white water. She choked on brine, eyes stinging as she struggled to make sense of her situation.

She found herself tumbling along, dragged over the rocks by the surging water, pain thumping across her side as she tried to gain a foothold. A small part of her brain reassured her that she couldn't drown, the inlet never filled up too deep. If she kept holding her breath, the water would settle and she'd be left a soggy mess in the rocky pools.

She smashed her head against a rock and searing agony shot over her, water filling her mouth as she screamed. Rational thought deserted her and she flailed in the churning foam, knowing her end was nigh.  
  


All she wanted was to be in the arms of her long-dead mother again, and she knew if she just let go, she would be reunited. Arms surrounded her and she settled into them, forgetting the raging water she was trapped under, letting herself slip away.  
  


There was peaceful, quiet calm. There was also cold, and a squawking bird somewhere above her. She opened her eyes to find herself on dry land, or a least damp sand. She was safe. She was alive!

She rolled over and coughed out some salty water and nearly chocked again when she saw the woman kneeling next to her. Her pale grey skin almost blended with the skittering grey clouds above her head. She had deep black eyes and stared down at Pirrin with concern and inquisitiveness.

Pirrin sat up and rubbed her eyes, then stopped as she noticed the grey woman's bare breasts. “Aren't you cold, all naked as the day you were born?” Pirrin said, then realised that her grey skin grew darker below her waist, turning to a thicker, seal-like consistency.

“No, I am warm enough. Do you feel better now?” The grey woman asked gently.

Pirrin found herself staring at the woman's feet, or rather, flippers. “You're a mermaid!” She looked up as the woman smiled sweetly, or as sweetly as one could with rows of very sharp, triangular teeth in one's mouth.

“No, I'm a shark-maid. My name's Sharron, pleased to make your acquaintance,” Sharron held out a hand.

Pirrin stared at it. “Sharron? A shark named Sharron?”

Sharron slowly moved her hand back to her lap. “It's a popular name amongst my age group.”

Pirrin shook some water from her ear. “You saved my life, and all I can do is stare at you and find your name strange. Please forgive me, I owe you my life, and I cannot thank you enough.” She forced herself to stop babbling on as Sharron took her hands in her own. She looked at the pale grey set against her own darker skin, then up at the dark, calm pools of Sharron's eyes.

She started to rummage in her bag. “Can I at least offer you some mussels and scallops? Do mer-sharks cook them? We could go up to my cottage and have some lunch together,” Pirrin gasped, then stopped silent. “Can you walk on land? Oh, no. Can you even get back to the ocean?” Pirrin stared at the now calm, shallow water of the inlet.

Sharron smiled. “So many questions, I can't remember them all. Yes, I can swim back once the high tide hits, and perhaps we can have lunch here?”

Pirrin ran back to her cottage in a daze and wondered if she were dreaming. She still wondered during their shared lunch, then after their first swim together when the weather warmed. She wondered again after their first kiss.  
  


Pirrin sat on the edge of the jetty near her cottage and combed her now grey hair. The sandstone cliffs formed a protective arm around the inlet where she fished and watched the sea birds swoop and cry in the warm sunshine.

She thought of that day many years ago, wondering if it had been a dream. She opened an old painted mussel shell into a heart shape and set it against the wooden grip of the ladder, then smiled as a familiar grey shaped swam through the water towards her dangling feet. She knew it was a dream come true, and she happily leaned over to kiss her wife of many years.

 


End file.
